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Tag Archives: kerala

Mullaperiyar Dam - You'll See Something Like This Everyday For The Next Few Months Till The Issue is Dropped

Motive, motive, motive.

It’s all about motive.

Kerala has a single motive – somehow, decommission the dam. It’s pretty simple and obvious because:

1. the revenue generated by the dam is far less than what could actually be the case had there been no lease between TN and Kerala before.
2. the proposed new dam would be built by Kerala (obviously) and would be under their control.

TN has a single motive too – somehow, never let the above things happen.

That again is simple. TN is already running short of electricity, and the electricity from the dam is under TN’s control.

But you know what? We’ll f*ck up this whole game. We’re already doing that, but here’s how comprehensively we’ll mess up with the whole issue!

The “Tamilan” Sentiment

One of my facebook friends started posting very passionately about the developments in the area. Some 50,000 Tamilians agitated and that was a proud moment in history! If history has been read right, you’d probably know that agitations of that sort have a strange habit of turning into riots. And there’s no stopping Keralites if they agitated for the same issue too. Kootti kalichi paathaa kanakku seriya varaadhu, mothama poidum!

Shouting slogans at the border is not going to drive a point. It wont even drive a whiff of air at the Kerala Govt! That’s several hundred kilometers away in “Thiruvenendhapurem!!”

The Keralite Conundrum

Having a motive is not wrong. But having an ulterior motive, and coating it with some botched up, semi-baseless ideology and points at the Supreme Court is. That’s precisely what Kerala Govt is doing.

Yes, if the dam leaks, if there’s going to be more water flow, if there’s going to be flooding, all those resorts and occupants are going to drown! But where did they come from? Those are typical encroachments – and have been proved to be so, havent they?

The motive of the Kerala Govt looks as simple as it can look. It’s a question of need versus greed. Yes, it’s quite natural for a govt to think that it’s getting underpaid for a lot of water and electricity but trying to decommission a perfectly safe dam for that – citing reasons that even the Supreme Court laughed at – is definitely not helping anyone.

The DMK Dandanakka

I am no Amma fan, nor a supporter. But the first warning she sent regarding the issue – that of asking politicians not to make hasty statements or hate-speeches – is a very serious thing. But who cares, eh!!? Of all the people, you’d not expect the DMK not to do something silly right now. It will. It did.

Oh, if it wasn’t the DMK, it would be some other opposition! The standard rule here is not to think about the overall welfare of the state. It’s about the overall state of the welfare of the party – and anything that could help raise the popularity of the party, or tar the face of the opposite party would be immediately done.

A day-long fast? Okay, then? Condemn the Center? Fine, then?? *yawn* We already saw some of that fasting joke last time with the SriLankan issue, didnt we?

Center Wont Say Anything, Buddy!

One good thing that the TN Chief Minister does is never care for the Center to act. Center’s already in deep mess and trouble for now with all the allegations and Anna Hazare missiles pointed at it. It’s probably still reeling under the blow that it got – from various quarters. (and some slaps too!)

(Note to Sibal – was that free-speech or was it censor-able content?!!)

Center’s momentary (or eternal, as may be the case) silence on the issue could only mean two things:

– It doesnt want to end up in this tangle which looks eternal for now.
– Probably it knows the Congress Kerala Govt’s demands and points aint that right at all, and so, wouldnt stand the test of time in the court of law.

Supreme Court – The Final Answer

You see, people, politicians, governments and other institutions are passionately run.

People will agitate, shout slogans, throw stones – and who knows? they might even stand as a group on the dam and weaken it really!

Politicians will do anything from a faked fast to randomly generating emotional speeches (in the presence of a microphone and a few dozen people) – and ruin the already deteriorating state of Kerala-TN relations.

Governments will have to official release statements – and file their complaints – in order to keep up the good faith of the people – and also to make sure things happen the way the governments want them to happen.

Each one of these is biased – even though a Keralite would say his point is right and a Tamilian would do the same for his own point!

Let the issue take its full-shape in the Supreme Court. If Kerala over-rides the ruling of the SC, then wouldnt that tilt the case in TN’s favor? The issue is not between people. If people took to the streets or took to arms, there’s no end to the issue. It’s between motives of two states. One feels it’s underpaid, and the other says it’s all right because it’s according to the lease. Let the SC decide whose motive shall sustain.

And to reporters – Stop standing at that Kerala-TN border and reporting as if you’re reporting live from Indo-Pak border during the Kargil War, for our sakes, damn it!